Understanding the Capital Stack and Finding Opportunity in a Changing Market with Jen Maldonado

Real estate deals can look very different depending on where you sit in the capital stack.

In this episode, Jen Maldonado breaks down what the capital stack means, who gets paid first, and how risk changes at each level. She uses a simple $10 million example to explain senior debt, second liens, preferred equity, and common equity.

Jen also shares what she is seeing in Austin, Phoenix, and California as she reviews the market heading into the last quarter of 2026. In Austin, she is watching single family homes, condos, and smaller apartment properties while working on development projects close to the University of Texas and the Allendale area.

The conversation also goes inside one of Jen’s current Austin projects. Her team took down a property with a single family home and developed three condo units. The project is almost complete, with each unit expected to be listed between $850,000 and $900,000.

Jen explains how the project was financed, why she prefers to keep the capital stack simple on smaller developments, and why she always underwrites a backup plan. If selling does not make sense, she wants to know whether rents can cover the mortgage and whether a mix of long term and short term rentals can keep the property moving.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• What Jen is seeing in Austin, Phoenix, and California
• Why she is selling the last hotel in her Phoenix portfolio
• How the capital stack works in a real estate deal
• The difference between senior debt, second liens, preferred equity, and common equity
• How Jen financed a roughly $1.7 million Austin development project
• Why she considers multiple exit plans before starting a deal
• How property taxes and interest rates affect her underwriting in Texas
• What a lazy river taught Jen about market currents